Ethiopian Coptic Ge’ez Manuscript Prayer Scrolls.

Item Number: 141643

Ethiopia:, c.19th century.

Pair of parchment scrolls written in Ge’ez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. 2 scrolls, manuscript on parchment in red and black ink. Each scroll measures approximately 70 inches in length. Each scroll includes an Ethiopian cross motif. In very good condition.

Ethiopian Handwritten Coptic Ge’ez Bibles and manuscripts were produced as early as the fourteenth century until the late 19th century throughout Ethiopia, the first country to become an independent African nation. Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century when Syrian missionaries first translated the Bible into Ge’ez, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The surviving body of Ge’ez literature in composed almost entirely of Christian liturgy, as education was exclusively the responsibility of priests and monks. The bibles produced typically contain the gospels of the New Testament, recounting the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the foundation of the Christian faith with illuminated miniature paintings depicting the lives of the Saints. Scrolls such as these were produced for use in prayer as well as for healing and protection purposes.